Words after speech, reach into the silence.
Words move, music moves.
~ T.S. Eliot
We both forgot one very vital note of importance regarding Idun's Golden Apples. They needed to be given, not liberated. Sigyn screwed up her face as pieces of half chewed, rotting apple flew from my mouth.
"Agh, it's vile!" I choked, and Sigyn grabbed the large bottle of water I'd summoned from New Asgard along with some of her belongings, and hurried to my side. I downed half the bottle, and chased it down with a goblet of more wine, ridding the horrible taste from my mouth. Ugh!
"Okay, so that didn't work." Sigyn mused more to herself, flicking her wrist to send the apple remnants elsewhere. She really did have an advanced grasp on her magic. "For now, perhaps summon some more food. Carbs, ideally, both simple and complex. I know pasta always helps if I'm ravenous."
"Carbs?"
"Oh, carbohydrates. It's a Midgard dietary term, Theoric was quite into his fitness and taught me all about what humans should and shouldn't be eating, he always said..." She trailed off, blinking rapidly. "Anyway, summon some pasta from somewhere, I know there was a nice restaurant in Oslo; De La Casa Pasta. I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you took some."
"My, my, Sigyn, I fear I've corrupted your good little heart into thievery." I teased, pulling Earth 616 into view and delving into the branch. "Do you want anything"
"No thank you." Her tone was quiet, contemplative, and I sensed she wished for silence. I carefully ate the bowl of decidedly delicious and filling pasta. Why hadn't I had this Midgardian/Earth delight before?
"Do you sleep?" Sigyn asked once I'd finished my meal. "I mean, of course you sleep, but how? Do you just nod off on your stone seat?"
"More or less. I anchor the branches about my wrists and doze a little."
"I'm tired from the bit of magic I've done, I cannot imagine..." She shook her head. "Loki, everyone back at the TVA is trying to find a way to help."
"I fear there is no helping, but I appreciate the effort, and having my friend's back." I studied her; she looked drained. "You are welcome to take some rest yourself."
"It seems selfish to do so." She murmured, but I merely let some branches lower, forming a wall of sorts between us to create some privacy.
"Take some rest, and I will too." I commanded gently, seeing her get more comfortable on the lounge, tugging Mobius's jacket tighter about herself. Reaching into a branch, I procured an actual blanket, letting it fall gently over her form.
"Thank you, Loki." Her whisper was like a breeze through the branches as they finally obscured her and closing my eyes, I forced myself to doze, but not fall entirely into dreams.
Very soft crying awoke me fully some time later, but I remained silent. I hadn't had my lover betray and try to murder me, but I'd been ripped from everything I knew and brought to the TVA. I had been in a bad place mentally, emotionally, physically too. I had not gone unscathed by Thanos and his Black Order on any account. I'd been angry, but I'd missed my home, my family terribly in the beginning. And learning of my future, my mother's death, my father's, the fall of Asgard, Thanos's destruction, and then my own death... It was a lot.
Sigyn had a lot to grieve, and I wondered if I had done the right thing, bringing her here? I'd saved her, that was the right thing, but, could I set her back in her timeline without too much consequence? Surely only a couple weeks had passed since she'd vanished? No one in New Asgard would even know she was missing, presumed dead yet. I hadn't checked on Idun or anyone when I'd brought some of Sigyn's belongings back here. I checked now.
"Something is wrong, I know it." Idun was sitting at a table across from the Valkyrie who ruled New Asgard, Brunehilde, or Rune, for short.
"It's not un-normal for Sigyn to travel and be away for weeks at a time. Perhaps her phone's just not working where she is?" Rune replied empathetically.
"She took apples with her, she doesn't normally do that. I do not believe they were fir her."
"How many?"
"Three." Idun shook her head. "I fear she's been coerced by that man, Theoric. He was charming, much like Fandral. And for all Sigyn's powers in perception, her own fidelity blinds her."
"Those apples in the wrong hands could lead to trouble..." Rune mused. "Where was she last?"
"Australia, she went with him. She wanted to see the, ah, what were they?"
"The Quokkas?"
"Yes, those."
"They're pretty cute. Look, let's see what Thor's schedule is, he's got a friend in Australia. Darryl, I think he's called. Maybe Darryl can help locate Sigyn."
I pulled out of Idun's thread, and bowed my head. Wonderful, they were going to look for her. Perhaps she could just turn up? It wouldn't really be any different to Mobius going back and forth from the TVA and his timeline, or Sylvie doing whatever she wanted. Except, they weren't supposed to be dead on their timelines. It would be like if I went back. Many had seen me die by Thanos's hand. But, no one knew Sigyn was dead. Technically she wasn't dead. She was here, asleep now. I'd consult with Mobius when he next dropped in.
Until then, perhaps some more furnishings were in order, along with a day bed... Into Asgard 26283 I went, deciding it would be wise to also acquire some of the other Loki's own belongings. Hopefully the blame for objects vanishing would not fall on him.
I found him relaxing in the royal gardens, under the dappled shade of an ash tree. Sigyn sat gracefully beside him laughing uncontrollably at something he must have said by his satisfied grin. "It's your turn." He said, and I watched while Sigyn, calming her amusement, produced a single flower from behind her back; a red tulip. The other Loki's eyes lit up in triumph. It seemed it had taken quite a bit of wooing on his part, for it had been winter when I had first found his note to her, and now the gardens were fully awakening for summer. He took the flower from her, making a scene of placing it behind her ear and she smiled. He then leaned in, brushing his lips against hers, asking. She returned his kiss with fervour and I decided to get the hel out of there. It was weird, seeing your other self kissing someone else. Really, really weird.
I perused the palace, taking this and that, ensuring I'd taken my own daybed from their world, knowing the other Loki would be furious. It would keep blame off him to lose a prized possession. It seemed he was quite the scapegoat to the other Gods, however it was nice to see my other self had found his own happiness. I only hoped it would remain.
I didn't trust myself to build walls, I'd leave the task to Sigyn, but I did arrange as much furniture as I could, making the space more inviting for my visitors.
Once I'd run out of things to do, I found Sylvie. She was reading a magazine called the Rolling Stones, strangely no music played. Silently I riffled through her collection and pulled out a vinyl record; Don't You, by Simple Minds. I set the song going and heard a snort of laughter from the kitchen. "Smooth, Loki, take the second plate of food and get lost."
There was a smile playing on her lips when I whisked the meal away, warmth flaring in my chest. Cinnamon and apple pancakes, an earth favourite she knew I liked, and these were by far the sweetest one's I'd eaten.
When Sigyn awoke, I knew by her gasp of surprise and wary "Loki?"
"I've been busy." I grinned when she appeared from behind the beautiful Asgardian tapestries I'd suspended around her sleeping form for privacy while I worked. "I thought perhaps you could add some internal walls." To my surprise, she shook her head.
"No. Not until you're able to use the space yourself."
"Sigyn, it might never be possible."
"There has to be a way. We'll figure it out."
"I studied for centuries Sigyn, centuries, to arrive at the realisation I needed to be where I am, and to take a chance on a mere theory I could fix the branches, power them. If I let go, the power switches off."
"I have another idea, but I'll explain it once Mobius returns."
"It might be a while, would you care to play a game?" I gestured to a chess set before me I'd also liberated from Asgard. Her eyes lit up.
"I hope you enjoy losing." She challenged, and I laughed.
"Not particularly, but I'm excellent at it."
"Chess?"
"I'm good at that too. Let's play."
Mobius's next visit was a lot sooner than I expected, although, it didn't appear to be entirely for me.
"I like what you've done with the place!" Mobius strode about the large area, taking in all the Asgardian finery. "The drapes are a nice touch, feels homely, well, if you're Asgardian, but I like it. And the walls, they're incredible. How did you build the walls?"
"Sigyn re-built them from pieces of the original building which were floating in space." I explained, so Mobius knew the credit was not all mine.
"Very kintsugi." Mobius said, to which Sigyn frowned in confusion. "Oh, you don't know what that means." Smiling, she shook her head. "It's a Japanese term and technique of repairing something broken, usually pottery, with gold."
"It's a fitting concept." She decided, gazing thoughtfully at the chessboard. Mobius too assessed the board, squinting before he leaned in, whispering something in her ear. "Oh..." She tried and failed to hide a triumphant smile, moving her piece into place.
"That's hardly fair." I protested.
"Check..." she laughed, "mate."
"Oooh, you'll regret that, Mobius." I threatened, but he only laughed.
"If you were Sylvie, I'd be scared. You're just the pussy-cat, remember." He teased, and Sigyn let out a snort of laughter, immediately turning red cheeked.
"Enough of that, I've been thinking." I announced, gaining both their attention. "I believe we can return Sigyn to her timeline and-"
"I can then bring you back a golden apple. What a brilliant idea!" She interrupted, face alighting with excitement.
"What? No. I mean send you back, return you home." She blinked at me.
"But you said it would be unwise." Mobius said slowly, glancing Sigyn's way in dismay.
"I initially thought so, but no one suspects her dead, and they've only just become worried she's missing, her mother, Idun, wants Thor to look for her. If she returns, she can make up some excuse for not answering her phone or coming home sooner, and she'll be forgiven and can go on with her life on earth."
"Does 'she' get a say in any of this?" Sigyn asked, arms crossed and frowning at me. Did the girl ever look truly mad?
"Don't you want to return home?" I asked gently. Her gaze flickered uncertainly to Mobius, and then back at me.
"If I go back, I can retrieve Idun's apples, and we can see if they will help you."
"Idun's apples? What do you mean?" Mobius asked.
"Sigyn had an idea to see if eating one of Idun's golden apples would replenish my energy faster than regular food. I summoned one from New Asgard, but we didn't take into account the fruit turns rotten to whomever eats it by taking it, instead of the fruit being gifted."
"What happened?"
"I learnt how disgusting rotten apple tastes." I muttered, feeling green at the memory. It was like off apple cider, and the texture had been... ugh!
"So if Sigyn goes back to New Asgard, procures an apple and brings it back and gives it to you, it won't go rotten." Mobius summed up and Sigyn nodded enthusiastically.
"Yes, and because I'm one of only two Goddesses able to gift the apples, being Idun's daughter, it will be no trouble."
"It sounds like a foolproof plan." Mobius decided, but I was unsure. It seemed too simple. I couldn't place why, but I was afraid something might go wrong. But it couldn't, Sigyn couldn't be any safer than in New Asgard.
"And then you can go home." I said softly.
"But we haven't figured out how to fix your predicament." She protested. This again. I sighed, and now our chess game was over, rearranged the branches so I once again held them in both hands. She watched me, her jaw set, and I braced myself for an argument, but none came.
"Energy is a cycle." She murmured. "You fuel the timeline with your energy, and it in turn fuels you with the sustenance of food."
"Now that's a good analogy. Is that why you want Loki to consume the apples?" Mobius asked.
"No, I hope they will increase his energy so it is greater than what the branches burn. It could at least fix the weight issue, and stop him from burning out." I narrowed my eyes at her, but she ignored me, turning to face Mobius, simultaneously fingering a golden pendant hanging from her neck, which I hadn't noticed before. "I mean, if energy is a cycle, and it feeds off itself to exist, what if the branches could feed off their own energy?"
"They couldn't, they'd burn out. Mobius you saw what happened when I destroyed the original loom. Sigyn you've seen it in my mind, along with every tried and failed plan before. It won't work."
"But what if they were all linked, so the energy couldn't go anywhere but course through the branches in a continuous..." She glanced down at the pendant in her hand and Mobius caught sight of it too.
"Infinity loop." He nodded, also considering the idea. "If O.B could create a loop of sorts, the branch ends Loki holds could connect to it."
"The energy would deplete as new timeline branches form. No different to when the loom overloaded because it couldn't handle the additional multitude of branches." I explained. It would be like a tree depleted of water; the newer, weaker branches and roots would wither and die first, essentially it will self prune itself, just like the loom was a fail-safe."
"I'm sorry, the loom was a what?" Mobius stared at me, dumbstruck.
"I forget, we still have much to catch up on."
"You bet we do, but it can wait until after we've sorted you out."
"You're as bad as Sigyn. You both need to let this go. There's no way around this."
"You should know by now, I'm not one for giving up." Mobius replied with a stubborn set to his jaw.
"And neither am I." Sigyn said, determination written boldly across her delicate features. I sighed and said no more as they made a plan to visit O.B and see if he could create this Infinity Loop which I was confident wouldn't work. Hopefully O.B would convince them of its futility.
I don't think this story is going to be it's intended six chapters, it's like it's own branched timeline, we are in the red zone! Next chapter, we are heading to Ancient Egypt, and Loki and Sylvie will join up for some mischievous meddling!
If you don't understand the Darryl and Thor in Australia reference; please, please gp YouTube it! You won't regret it!
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